I have '99 taurus that keeps eating tires. I have no unusual tread wear, no shimmy or shake except just before the tire goes. Tire pressure is kept up and they are all raial. We bought the car used w/ 70k. It had 4 goodyears. After 2 months it started to shimmy. I found the tread beginning to seperate. Two months later the same happened to the right front. About 6 months later the right rear. Now, about 8 months later the right rear again. Each time I have replaced with a used tire of various brands. Initially this was because I needed to save up for a set of new, but now I don't want to buy new ones till I get this fixed. All tires had plenty of tread left. I suspect alignment, but wouldn't that also show up in unusual tread wear or handling?

 

Check all fundamentals.

Tire balance?
Proper tire inflation?
Condition of shocks & struts?
Condition of all suspension & steering components?
Rim bent, out-of-round?
Wheel alignment? Has a 4-wheel alignment been done?
When tire/rim is mounted, is there any play/wear around the bolt hole or lug nut?
Has car ever been in accident that you know of? Could have a bent/twisted frame?
Wheel/spindle bearings?
Who all drives vehicle? Does anyone like taking corners on two wheels?
Are you POSITIVE all tires the same size, and are they the proper size for vehicle?

Obviously, lots of could be's.

 

If the car was bent in an accident and is now crabbing, it could cause enough tire scrubbing at highway speed to heat up a tire and make it fail. The best thing would be to take it to a bodyshop at a Ford dealer and have them put it on the rack and measure it. If the car is warped, I would just drive the car until 100k or a major item failed and then junk it.